


Behold (the future, past, and present)

by Centenniel



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Academia, Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate Universe - Supernatural Elements, Cannibalism, Minor Relationships, NCT Dream - Freeform, Sort Of, transcription
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-20
Updated: 2019-02-20
Packaged: 2019-11-01 02:59:41
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,884
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17858972
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Centenniel/pseuds/Centenniel
Summary: Flexible hours, decent pay, cool coworkers - Mark knew there had to be a catch.As he and his fellow interns at the SM Institute fight off a killer worm infestation, become targets of a psychic assassin, and question their own sanity, it's a miracle they get any work done at all.





	Behold (the future, past, and present)

**Author's Note:**

> This was ripped off a podcast I've been listening to called the Magnus Archives. It's about an institution in London that records statements about supernatural phenomenon. It's not exactly the same format but it's sort of meant to take place in the same universe. Sort of.
> 
> Everyone in NCT will make an appearance at some point. I'll tag them as the story progresses. As well as minor relationships.
> 
> Speaking of tags: I'm terrible at it. I don't think anything is particularly graphic or scary because I'm not very good at writing horror but let me know if you think I've missed something. 
> 
> Thanks.

_**DY:** Recording one zero eight nine three four, February 6th, 2019. Research Associate Kim Doyong, taking the statement of Na Jaemin regarding the disappearance of his roommate last October, 2018, while studying abroad in America._

_I have to admit I’m surprised._

 

_**JM:** Why? You don’t believe me?_

 

_**DY:** No, it’s not that. I just never thought that you would be making a statement, of all people. You’ve always been the most skeptical of the interns._

 

_**JM:** I suppose that’s true. Oh! Hi Jeno. Or Mark-hyung. Or Donghyuck. Or Injun. Or Chenle. Or new intern._

 

_**DY:** His name is Park Jisung. And at the rate this digitization project is going, we’ll be on our 8th generation of interns before this gets transcribed._

 

_**JM:** [inaudible]_

 

_**DY:** Yes, thank you, Na Jaemin, for pointing out that I am ancient and will most likely be dead by then. Would you please give your statement now?_

 

_**JM:** Yeah, sure. I...well, it’s a bit of a jumble. Sorry, I should be better at this._

 

_**DY:** It’s okay. Take your time._

 

_**JM:** Right. Well, you know that I studied abroad last fall in America. I was at a small, private college in a place called Indiana. Pendleton College. It was nice, I suppose. I lived in the dorms with this guy, David Braeburn. We weren’t close but he seemed alright at the time and was something of a social butterfly._

_Some girls he knew from a class were having a party and told David to bring friends. He took me along which is where the whole thing started. I don’t remember the girls’ names but I do know their house was right by the town’s forest preserve. I guess it’s an important part of the town’s history and protected from developers. The night was one of October’s warmer ones so people were in the backyard as well as inside the house._

_I had been to a few other parties at Pendleton but they had been small gatherings of other international students. This was my first real American party. It wasn’t as crazy as the movies make American parties seem but there was a lot of alcohol - that part they got right. Someone, unfortunately I don’t remember her name either, kept refilling my cup, and before I knew it, we were kissing, feeling each other up behind a tree._

_Oh, hyung, I can see you trying not to scowl from here._

 

_**DY:** No, no. I’m not - continue._

 

_**JM:** I’m sorry, I’m not trying to brag. It’s just that whenever you get flustered, your front teeth poke out over your bottom lip and it’s cute._

 

_**DY:** Are you planning on returning to your internship? I think I may ask to have a word with the Director regarding that._

 

_**JM:** Sorry! I’m sorry, hyung. I’ll make my statement like a good dongsaeng._

_So, um, after I finished...talking to her, I needed some space so I started walking away from the house, deeper into the forest. I could barely hear the party behind me when I took a seat at the base of a tree, back against the trunk. I took deep breaths to try to sober up which never works, by the way. If anything, it made me more lightheaded and I decided to return to the party before I accidentally passed out in the woods._

_I started my way back to the house and my foot hit something that clanged as it rolled away. Crawling around on my hands and knees, I found it nestled against a tree root. It was one of those metal cups that old European kings used to drink out of - what’s it called?_

 

_**DY:** A chalice?_

 

_**JM:** Yes, that’s it! A chalice. It was surprising heavy and substantial with a scalloped edge along the flared base, red stones embedded in the stem. As interesting as it was, I would have just left it there but I thought maybe David might want it._

_He’s got this collection of junk that he’s found while intoxicated that he called his treasure chest. A marble cheese board, a gilded picture frame, a perfectly intact vase. Nothing stolen but stuff he’s picked up off the street while walking back home after parties. The chalice seemed like something he’d like and turns out, I was right._

_He became really excited and kept asking if anybody had any wine. He eventually managed to snag the last bit of someone’s Merlot and insisted that I drink first since I was the one who found the chalice._

_It was...ugh, I can’t even properly describe it. I’ve had bad wine before but this was so far beyond wine that’s transitioned into its second life as vinegar. As it went down my throat, it burned and felt cold at the same time and it was like I was being choked from the inside out._

_I probably would have thrown up all over the kitchen floor immediately but peer pressure is a powerful thing and I managed to keep it down until I found a bathroom. And then I vomited all the wine. I’ll be honest, it felt amazing. I actually felt good enough to rejoin the party._

_Unfortunately, David was not doing so well after finishing off the chalice. He didn’t get sick but he kept mumbling under his breath and ignored all of our attempts to hydrate him or let us know if he was okay. Finally, me and one of his friends, Eddy something-or-other, walked him back to our room and made sure he fell asleep on his side. And then Eddy and I may have also kissed._

_I’m kidding! I mean, not really but okay! I’ll stop, hyung, put down the notepad!_

 

_**DY:** Na Jaemin, are you deliberately trying to annoy me?_

 

_**JM:** No! I just...honestly, I’m stalling._

_Even after all these months, I still don’t know if burning down the church was the right thing to do._

 

_**DY:** I’m sorry, you what?_

 

_**JM:** I’ll get to that part eventually. Be patient, hyung. You always say you hate non-chronological statements._

 

_**DY:** You’re. Right. I suppose. Please. Continue._

 

_**JM:** Eddy went back to his room and I went to bed. I woke up a few hours later and it took me a second to notice that David was standing right by my bedside. I sort of, well, I didn’t scream exactly, but I was startled._

_I asked him what he was doing, if he needed something. He didn’t answer and I realized that his eyes were closed, still asleep. I was about to guide him back to bed when he turned around on his own. He walked towards his side of the room and snapped his head in my direction. His eyes were open now but they were unfocused and glassy so I don’t think he was truly awake. However, he did speak and he said, very clearly:_

You would be delicious.

_And then he smiled. It wasn’t like any smile I’d seen David show before though. The corners of his mouth went up so high I thought his face would rip and he made a deliberate showing of his teeth._

_I had no idea how to respond. Even though I can understand English well enough, speaking is a completely different story. I have enough trouble speaking in simple situations but when your roommate implies he’d be down for cannibalism, you suddenly forget every English word you’ve ever learned._

_And you know that I’m not one to shy away from confrontation but I seriously considered making a run for it. I probably would have done it but David slept closer to the door. While my brain scrambled for an appropriate reaction, he finally got into bed and a few minutes later, began quietly snoring._

_I, on the other hand, felt like I could never sleep again. The whole interaction had been so bizarre and unnerving. His words keep replaying in my mind, the way he bared his teeth at me._

_Just as I finally calmed down enough to get some rest, I heard David get out of bed and like a coward, I pretended to be asleep although I was ready to, I don’t know, fight back, I guess, if he did something weird._

_But he did nothing out of the ordinary. I heard him pour himself a glass of water from the pitcher in our shared mini-fridge, down it all in one go, pour another glass and place it on my desk. Then he went back to bed._

_I was relieved. I finally fell asleep and when I woke up around noon, David was gone and the entire incident seemed less ominous, just a sleep-induced one off. I told Ten-hyung, full name Chittaphon Leechaiyapornkul - sorry to whoever has to transcribe this - about it at brunch that afternoon, he suggested that maybe David had been trying to come on to me._

_I knew that’s not what it was. I may not be good at English but I know when someone is flirting with me and it was definitely not that._

_I saw David very little over the next few weeks. Our class schedule and social calendar never overlapped very much before but after that party, he was almost, well, a ghost._

_When I came back from an international student event one night and he invited me out for dinner the next day, I was surprised. My feelings of unease hadn’t completely disappeared but he seemed to be his friendly, normal self. I was eager to move on from that night so I agreed. He did warn me, apologetically, that the place he wanted to go was off campus but it made sense considering the small size of our school._

_I’m not a complete idiot so I told Ten-hyung just in case David tried anything funny but I was looking forward to a break from cafeteria food. David had a car which we took instead of the bus or an Uber._

_Things were awkward the minute I slid into the passenger seat. David normally played music at an ear-shattering level but this time, the car was silent. All attempts at making conversation fell completely flat which just made things even more uncomfortable. I finally settled for looking out the window._

_Another ten minutes passed before I realized that we were heading in a strange direction. Most of the restaurants are on the east side of town which means driving past lots and lots of hog farms - there’s a federally inspected slaughterhouse a few miles outside the city. You can always tell you’re 15 minutes away from the downtown area because of the smell._

_But all I could see that at time was the silhouette of the trees, it was so dark out. I asked David where we were going and he didn’t answer. I started to get nervous so I asked him again and this time he replied, said we were going to dinner._

_I tried to get him to answer more specifically but he again ignored me. I decided that the next time the car stopped at a red light or a stop sign, I was going to jump out and run into the woods where his car couldn’t go. I was pretty sure I was faster than him on foot._

_Before I had a chance to implement my plan, he pulled over on the side of the road under a broken street light. I should have jumped into action but I was too taken back. Two figures emerged from the woods and walked towards us. I finally snapped to my senses, feeling around for the handle but it was then that I realized it had been removed, a stub of broken plastic in its place. I heard David apologize although to be honest, he didn’t sound very sorry so I’m not ashamed to admit that I turned around and gave him a dirty look._

_One of the figures opened my door and pulled me out of the car, practically dislocating my shoulder. I don’t think I made it easy for them but two-on-one, it didn’t take them long to tie my hands and put a bag over my head. They - hyung, are you okay?_

 

_**DY:** I’m fine. I just...I don’t understand why you didn’t say anything before today. This happened so many months ago._

 

_**JM:** To be honest, I wasn’t planning on telling anyone. Ever. The Indiana State Police don’t even know that I was involved. But when I came to visit the Institute last week, I felt like I had to. Not out of duty or because it’s the right thing but if I didn’t, I’d lose my mind. Even now, I don’t want to finish my statement but I have to._

_Shall I continue?_

 

_**DY:** Jaemin...yes, please do._

 

_**JM:** I couldn’t see exactly where they were taking me but from the way I kept stumbling over uneven ground, I knew it was in the forest. We walked for what seemed like hours but it was probably no more than 30 minutes. By the time we reached their destination, I was exhausted and my captors were breathing pretty hard as well. I could hear a lot more people around us before being dragged up some steps and into a building. I was sat in a hard wooden seat while heavy hands on my shoulders warned me not to move. It was unnecessary. Fear and exhaustion made me pretty compliant at that point._

_For the next half hour or so, I just sat there as voices echoed around me. Sometimes a single voice, other times a chorus of them in response. I had no idea what they were saying which fueled my fear. Eventually, I heard footsteps approach and stop in front of me. Someone removed the hood over my head, allowing me to finally get a look at my surroundings._

_We were in a chapel, one not used often judging by the musty smell. Candles in holders attached to the walls cast a soft glow around the room. Above, I could see the high steepled roof. Glancing left and right, I saw figures in hooded robes sitting in pews. In front of me was a woman I didn’t recognize dressed similarly. She was older with gray bobbed hair and blue eyes. Nothing really distinguishing about her features but perhaps I was distracted by the gun in her hand._

_She pointed the barrel at my face and I should have been terrified of such a weapon but that’s not what made my blood run cold. Behind her, in front of everyone, was a raised platform, covered in a filthy navy carpet, with nothing on it. The surface of the platform moved, falling and rising the way your chest does when you lie down._

_Nobody else was bothered by this. In fact, the woman appeared to find my terror amusing. She reached forward and patted my head, studying me closely. She seemed to like what she saw until her gaze traveled below my face. I followed and saw her staring at the pendant around my neck._

_It was a gift from Team Leader Bae before I left for my semester abroad. Said it was a good luck charm. It’s not normally something I’d pick for myself but I appreciated the gesture and it helped ease my homesickness, strangely enough._

_Here, I brought it with me today._

 

_**DY:** For the record, the chain is of medium length, silver, thin. The pendant, about an inch in length, half-inch in height, is a wire-wrapped pendant in the shape of an eye with a dark blue stone in the middle._

_Thank you, Jaemin._

 

_**JM:** Sure thing._

_I normally wore it under my shirt but it must have popped out while I was being dragged through the woods._

_The woman jabbed the gun in my direction and asked who I was. I thought that was an odd question considering I was the one kidnapped by her friends. She called for my roommate and one of the hooded figures stood up. She sounded angry as she spoke to him and David...he looked terrified._

_I realize I shouldn’t feel bad for him since he’s the one who sold me out to this cult or whatever they were but I can’t help it. Especially after..._

_It all happened so quickly. One second I could hear him begging, saying “I don’t know,” over and over again. Then he was suddenly quiet and they were dragging him towards the platform, leaving a trail of blood as they did. I saw David’s face as he passed and he was still alive. Tears spilled down his face but he didn’t fight back, probably realizing how useless that would have been._

_..._

 

_**DY:** Are you okay? Do you want to take a break?_

 

_**JM:** No, I’m fine. I want to get this over with. I was just thinking, well, that could have been me. Should have been me._

 

_**DY:** Do not say that._

 

_**JM:** Why not if it’s the truth? I don’t know who they thought I was that they’d bring me all the way out to the woods just to spare me and kill my roommate instead. The police call it a disappearance but I know he’s dead._

_Those people tossed him toward that moving platform but he never landed. The carpet and the wood underneath splintered with a horrible noise and David disappeared into the opening. It closed over almost immediately but couldn’t completely muffle his scream or the sound of his body shattering._

_I squeezed my eyes closed but I could still hear it, hear his bones grinding down to nothing. The squelch of his flesh being torn apart. I thought not being able to see it would make it better but it didn’t. I didn’t mean to open my eyes but I couldn’t stop myself. I had to know what was happening._

_The platform was motionless and the carpet, though still filthy, was in one piece, as if it hadn’t swallowed a person whole. A single word echoed off the ceiling._

Delicious.

_The woman who had threatened me earlier no longer had a gun. She held in her hand a silver cup with a flared, scallop edged base and red stones in the stem. That chalice...I felt like I was going crazy because it did not belong there, it was supposed to be with all of the other junk that David proudly displayed across his shelves and desk like a drunkard’s museum. It wasn’t supposed to be there, okay?_

_She stood in front of the platform and held the chalice high. From the ceiling, where the rafters connected into a peak, dripped a dark red liquid. It fell perfectly into the cup. The drops fell and fell in a continuous stream. More than the bowl of the chalice should have been able to hold but it never overflowed._

_Once the ceiling had been wrung out, the woman took a deep drink. I can still picture the red on her teeth as she said a few short words to the others before handing the chalice off to the person sitting at the end of the front row._

_One by one, they drank before passing it to the person next to them. The chalice made its way closer and closer to where I sat. I half expected someone to force me to take a drink but they didn’t, simply acting as if I wasn’t there._

_I wasn’t able to get a good look inside the chalice but the stench of it as it passed under my nose made my stomach clench. It smelled like...licking the end of a battery, if that makes sense. Sharp and metallic._

_The chalice made its way back to the woman in front and as if rehearsed, everyone stood up and began walking out of the chapel. Not a single one of them paid me any attention, including the woman. Soon, it was just me in there._

_All the tears that I had been holding back spilled forth in relief. I was alive and whole. I mean, yes, I was pretty sure I had witnessed a bunch of people drink blood out of a magical cup but at least it hadn’t been my blood._

_I don’t want to think about whose it was._

 

_**DY:** And then you...just left?_

 

_**JM:** No, Ten-hyung found me._

_I didn’t leave the chapel immediately. As much as I wanted to get away from that place and bored as those people looked as they left me behind, I was still afraid._

_Anyways, the doors to the chapel looked heavy and I knew I wouldn’t be able to open them with my hands stuck behind me. I spent some time trying to get loose but every movement sent pinpricks up and down my arm and I was weak from hunger._

_Hungry from missing dinner._

_In pain from being tied up for so long._

_Witness to the death of my roommate._

_Lost in the woods of a foreign country._

_It was undoubtedly the worst day of my life._

_I heard someone calling my name and I thought I was maybe losing my mind too. So I answered, figuring if I was going crazy, might as well enjoy it._

_I wasn’t expecting Ten-hyung to be the one who opened the door. My evil doppelganger or the mangled reanimated corpse of David would have been less surprising._

_He kept telling me that I was okay, safe, that he’d get me out of there, as his trembling hands worked at getting me loose. I was more confused than anything and wanted to ask how he knew where I was but couldn’t get the timing right._

_Once I got enough blood circulating to feel my arms again, Ten-hyung wanted to leave right away. I didn’t blame him. The last of the candles had melted and the only source of light was now what little the moon provided. But remembering…there was one thing I had to do._

_I asked Ten-hyung for his lighter. He carries around a Zippo that he uses as an excuse to hang out with smokers at parties. He normally doesn’t let other people touch it but handed it over without question that time._

_I ignited the flame and tossed the entire thing onto the middle of the platform._

 

_**DY:** Jaemin -_

 

_**JM:** The church burned must faster than I anticipated. Ten-hyung and I had to run out of there almost as soon as the lighter hit the carpet. We didn’t turn to look back, not even when the air began to scream._

_I don’t know in what direction or how far we ran until we finally met a road and were out of the forest. I’d never been so happy to see asphalt. Ten-hyung called us an Uber and we sat in silence all the way back to his apartment._

_I’m surprised he didn’t insist we call the police and when I said as much, he showed me a text message he had received earlier that evening. It wasn’t a number he or I recognized and it was one sentence in English._

Jaemin needs help.

_The message coupled with David’s strange behavior was enough for him to check my location on Find My Friends and saw that I was in the woods. He knew we weren’t going on a picnic so he took a cab towards the forest. He tracked my phone but I didn’t have it on me - he found it in a pile of fallen leaves._

_I don’t know why Ten-hyung didn’t call the police then. He doesn’t know either. Maybe he thought they’d be too late. I don’t really care the reason. I’m just grateful not to have them involved. It’s not as if they would have had an interpreter at the station and the thought of having to tell them what I saw in English - I’d rather be eaten by a church._

_By the time Ten-hyung had found me, those who had been in the church were long gone. He had no idea what happened and thought David was playing a cruel prank. It wasn’t until we were in his apartment that I was able to explain without going into too much detail that David wouldn’t be found. Especially since we - well, I - burned down the church._

 

_**DY:** You...I think we have enough to look into this statement. Jaemin?_

 

_**JM:** Yeah. Yes, I think so too._

_By the way, where is Team Leader Bae? I’d like to thank her for the gift._

 

*

 

Doyoung turns off the tape player. “So...that.”

 

“What the fuck.” Taeyong rubs his hands through his hair and the ends stick up like he’s been electrocuted. “Is Jaemin okay? I mean, he seemed totally fine when I saw him a few days ago. Smiling and happy and - ”

 

“He just doesn’t want us to worry,” Doyoung interrupts, harsher than he means to. “How could he not be affected by what he experienced?”

 

A muscle twitches in Taeyong’s jaw from how hard he’s grinding his teeth. A thick silence hangs in the air for a few long seconds before the sound of Mark’s muffled laughter drifts past the closed door and into the room they’ve commandeered for their emergency meeting. It’s followed by Chenle’s equally obnoxious shriek and what sounds like a scolding from Renjun.

 

Johnny coughs. “So I looked into the case a little after Doyoung brought it to me.”

 

“To you?” The hurt on Taeyong’s face deepens. “Why didn’t either of you tell me about this sooner?”

 

“I figured his English skills would come in handy since this took place in America.” Doyoung arches an eyebrow. “Also, have you looked in a mirror recently? It’s obvious you have a lot on your plate as it is.”

 

“The disappearance of David Braeburn made national headlines for a few weeks,” Johnny quickly continues. “But with a lack of leads, interest faded quickly. The last report was made by the local paper a few weeks ago. Nothing new, just a piece about how the disappearance affected the number of applicants of Pendleton College. Not much to go on since we don’t have a way to get police reports. And before you say anything, Kim Doyoung, Chicago is not Indiana. I have no contacts.”

 

“Anything in the news about a church being burned down?” Taeyong asks, trying his best to smooth down his hair.

 

“No, nothing about a church but there was a mention of fire damage done to a barn in the local paper a few days after the night David Braeburn disappeared. The land it was on is owned by the government so there wasn’t anyone to make a huge fuss about it.”

 

“Do you think it was the same place? That Jaemin would confuse a barn for a church?”

 

“We’d have to do a follow-up interview to ask but it’s possible. It doesn’t make him an idiot if he did, just a young city boy.”

 

Another burst of muffled laughter from the otherside of the door weaves through the air.

 

Doyoung glances at his watch. “We should get moving on the team dinner. They're getting antsy. It’s only a matter of time before one of them - ”

 

A scream, a crash, and then a guilty silence.

 

Doyoung sighs. “Whatever that was, clean it up before we leave!”

 

“What did you tell Jaemin when he asked about Team Leader Bae?” Taeyong asks, ignoring the ruckus outside.

 

“Don’t worry, I didn’t tell him that she was supposed to be back from her vacation two weeks ago. I said she’s busy and that I’d pass along his thanks.”

 

“Okay.” Taeyong nods. “That will be the story until we get new instructions from Director Kwon.”

 

“Speaking of Team Leader Bae,” says Johnny, raising his voice slightly over the movement of Doyoung and Taeyong preparing to leave. “Just one more thing, it’s important. I looked at the number that texted Jaemin’s friend that night. It was a Korean number. I thought it looked familiar and -” he lowers his voice so that Doyoung and Taeyong have to lean in to hear him “ - it was Joohyun-noona’s number.”

 

“What?” Doyoung practically shouts and the interns fall eerily quiet. He whispers, “are you serious?”

 

“Johnny, are you sure?” Taeyong asks, eyes huge with concern.

 

“Unless Jaemin wrote the number down wrong which I doubt he did. He’s been at the Institute long enough to be careful with details. Even if he didn’t plan on making a statement, he probably considered investigating on his own.” Johnny frowns. “But Team Leader Bae was here, in Korea, the night that Jaemin’s statement allegedly took place. There’s no way she could have known what was happening on the other side of the world. And even if she did, how did she get his friend’s number?”

 

“Just add that to the list of things we have to investigate.” Taeyong musses his hair again, looking even more frazzled. “I’m going to reach out to Director Kwon with this information tomorrow. Is it in the case file?”

 

“Yeah, it’s all in here,” says Johnny, handing off a manila folder. He stretches his arms above his head and yawns.

 

“Look alive, Seo Youngho,” Doyoung says and pokes him in the stomach. “Interns can smell weakness.”


End file.
